Arkos Therapy
by Hacno
Summary: Three short stories to help mostly myself work through Pyrrha's death at the end of Volume 3. One of What could have been, another one on their Grief and the last one on the Recovery. I will not continue on these further.
1. What Could have Happened

" _I am sorry Pyrrha, but I might be late for training today."_

" _Oh. Why is that Jaune?"_

" _Well, I was hoping could go out with me this afternoon."_

 _She smiled, "I'd like that."_

The streets of Vale were busy, however people stayed to themselves. Small cafes and stores lined the main street. The cloudy afternoon held to world in a shadow, the street lamps holding a haven for the denizens on the city. Along the street however walked a different light, the small smile of a young woman and wide grin of her blonde companion. He and she walked in their school uniforms with little regard for their image, strangers would take a second glance at them, passer-by's would keep would look even as they passed and the odd couple would whisper to themselves about those two.

"Jaune, do you think that going out like this would attract TOO much attention." Pyrrha said to him with a slight worry.

"Don't worry about them," Jaune said, "I could help you take your mind off it if you'd like."

Jaune said and held out a hand and Pyrrha took it without a moment's hesitation.

"There, does that help?" asked Jaune.

"That helps a lot," Pyrrha said as she held his hand firm, their pace became in sync as they walked down the street.

"So where are you taking me Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, Jaune smiled slyly at her question.

"You'll just have to wait and see." Jaune said, "Though I am very excited for this."

Jaune dropped the little façade and overcame himself with joy, with Pyrrha chuckling at his outburst of happiness. Jaune stopped and faced Pyrrha.

"I think you'll really like it, it's not like a lot of places in Vale. My dad served with the owner, we were always welcome, and even some of my sisters even had their first jobs there." Jaune said, "It's not much further ahead."

"I hope so Jaune," she says and looks up. The heavens above are dark and heavy, before the pattering of raindrops against the concrete was filling their ears. Others around them began jogging or putting up umbrellas to protect them from the rain.

"So it is." Said Jaune, letting go of Pyrrha's hand, he strolled around the little piece of sidewalk around them.

"Jaune…" She giggled, "What are you doing?"

"Don't you know the song?" He asked, holding onto a street lamp and spinning around it, all while singing, " _I am Daaaannccceing in the raaaaiinn…_ "

Though Jaune's signing was terrible, Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at the light-hearted moment, as the rain poured down heavier, many of the people on the street sought cover and rushed past the two dawdlers.

"Yeah, I think we should get there before we become completely saturated." Jaune said as he removed his blazer and used it to cover the both of them.

Walking in the heavy rain to a side street, Pyrrah spotted a single shop still operating, it's Dark green awning still extended over the street. Walking to the entrance, there was a line going from the centre of the restaurant to the door. Jaune started drying his blazer as soon as they got undercover, shaking it of some of the excess water. Pyrrha looked inside the surprisingly large restaurant, the building was very light, and the walls were a creamy white, with accents of red throughout. There were many tables inside, many only sat two people, with a larger red tablecloth underneath the clean and minimalist white cloth. From what Pyrrha could see, the tables were set with accented porcelain plates and shining silver cutlery, she felt slightly intimidated as Jaune re-joined her.

"Are you sure Jaune, this place is very busy and to be honest, it looks a little too nice." She said.

"Pyrrha Nikos. Don't you worry about that, it's my treat." Jaune said, "Just hang on one second."

Jaune pulled out of the line and walked towards the waitress podium, much to the annoyance of others.

"No cutting." Said one overly verbal customer.

Pyrrha was worried, as she looked up the line, she watched Jaune have a quick and friendly conversation with the waitress at the podium. He looked like he knew her and she gave him a genuine smile. She saw him mouth the words thank you before walking back to Pyrrha at the back of the line.

"May I show you to our seats?" Jaune said.

"Are you sure? We are not stopping any of these people from getting in?" Pyrrha said with concern.

"No, we are not taking their seats, I called the place earlier. They know we were coming and have kept our table free since I called." Jaune said, holding out his hand.

"Alright then, lead on." Pyrrha agreed. He led her left into the crowded restaurant taking another left to face the windows in the front of the restaurant. Under the window was a table for two, set out like any of the other tables, with a small card with a yellow double arc symbol on it. Jaune pulled out a chair and invited Pyrrha to sit. She sat down graciously and he helped her with her chair before strolling around to his part of the table. He put his still wet Blazer on the back of the chair and sat himself in.

"So what do you think?" He asked.

"I don't know what to say Jaune. This place looks amazing." She said, "And from the dancing to this, I am not too sure what to expect from you anymore."

"It's nice to not be just a fighter. I think were both pleasantly surprised at Ren's cooking skills when we first found out." Jaune said.

"I remember. Nora was very eager to have us try his pancakes, but she was extremely defensive of the syrup, she even threatened you with her spoon when you got too close." Pyrrha laughed.

"So, is there any secret gifts that I should know about?" Jaune asked, leaning forwards into the table.

"Hmm," she said playfully, "You'll have to wait and find out."

He gave her a joyful smile before noticing a large presence standing at the table.

"Jauney-boy!" said the large man, opening his arms for a hug.

"Massimo!" Jaune exclaimed and stood from his chair to give the man a hug.

"It is good to see you my boy." Massimo laughed. Massimo was not an overly large man, short black hair, a persistent tan and Pyrrha noticed a little bit of a gut around him, but getting the vibe of someone who was trained for combat. Jaune sat back down at the table as Massimo addressed Pyrrha.

"And you must be the lovely Miss Nikos," Massimo continued, "I am honoured that you are here at my restaurant." He set down two menus on the table softly, "Anything you want, and we can cook it for you."

"Thank you." Pyrrha said politely.

"Very well, a waitress will be with you two shortly." He said, "Jaune, blanc or a rogue?"

"We aren't old enough to drink yet Massimo." Jaune said.

"Bah, in my restaurant you can." He said bombastically.

"Just water please." Jaune insisted.

"Very well. You two let the wait staff know if there any problems." Massimo said before leaving, Jaune and Pyrrha saying their last thanks to the chef.

Pyrrha looked down at the menu laid out before. Opening it, she was exposed to something that she hadn't seen before.

"Umm, Jaune. What is 'Pasta', I don't think I've heard of that before." Pyrrha asked.

"Umm…" Jaune pondered the question, "I would say it's kinda like noodles, except it doesn't have to be in the shape of a string. I… ummm" he trailed off as he tried to describe it, "It's tasty though. Pasta doesn't sit in water, but like a sauce, Meat and other vegetables can be trapped inside giving little bursts flavour. It's… ahhh… very nice."

Pyrrha was not surprised at his lack of insight, but still very much intrigued by it, amused by Jaune's sporadic explanation.

"Sounds interesting. I will try some then." Pyrrha said.

"So are you ready to order?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha nodded her head in anticipation and Jaune raised his arm.

Down the long, silent halls of the student dorms, walked a couple, laughing happily and most certainly annoying anyone they passed. Jaune held his wet blazer over his shoulder

"That was wonderful, I am so happy we did this." Pyrrha said.

"Even if we skipped out on training today." Jaune asked.

"Well… I can see that as a, different kind of training." Phyyra pieced together the words slowly as she thought.

"Oh yeah," Jaune said impishly, "and what kind of training was that to you?"

"Oh, I don't know. Training the Taste buds?" Pyrrha guessed. Jaune gave a quick hearty laugh.

"Though we can't miss too many sessions like this Jaune." Pyrrha continued, "We can't stop training just because you can take a single baby Ursa."

Jaune sighed and smiled, "Yes mum. I will train hard." Pyrrha returned with a warm smile of her own.

They stopped just outside of their dorm, with a faint ruckus from Team RWBY across the hall. Jaune stood next to it and faced Pyrrha.

"So uhh, I guess, see you tomorrow?" Jaune said awkwardly.

Pyrrha laughed as she reached into her pocket, pulling out her scroll, "Jaune? You do remember that we share a dorm room?"

Jaune's back straightened as that sudden and what should have been obvious fact sunk into his head with new context.

"I wonder how Nora and Ren will take that then." Jaune said, still a little stunned. Following abruptly as Pyrrha walked inside.

Pyrrha widely smiled as she removed her jacket, folding it and placing it with a washing basket, "Well, I hope they take it well."

Jaune gulped down the saliva in his throat at her sentence. He was petrified at what was he was witnessing, trying to act cool, he placed his wet blazer in the basket. He watched her disappear into their designated changing room area and turned his back. He removed his tie and vest as he heard Pyrrha from a distance.

"Where are Ren and Nora actually?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, I told Nora that they could do anything they wanted while we were out." Jaune stiffly said, "They could be doing anything."

"So you only told Nora." Pyrrha said, Jaune could only tell that she was moving out from behind the cover, "Someday we are going to have to apologize to Ren."

Jaune bravely turned around, to see Pyrrha in an orange with her emblem and pair of comfortable black short shorts. He looked at her in her pajamas in a new way.

"I… ugh." Jaune cleared his throat, with Pyrrha raising an eyebrow.

"Yes Jaune?" She asked.

"It's like I've seen a whole new you today." Jaune said with his hand behind his head. She smiled sweetly.

"Do we have to close our eyes and walk in backwards Jaune?" Nora's loud and high pitched voice was heard just outside the door. Both Jaune's and Pyrrha's faces went bright red, before bursting into a small laughter.

"No you don't Nora, just come in." Jaune said calming down a little. The slight click of the electric lock and the door opened with an exhausted Nora and a stoic Ren, both holding a tower of books.

"There is only so long I can do homework Jaune! I need time to have rest too!" Nora said.

"You spent most of your time looking at various videos of animals." Ren clarified.

"And it takes a lot out of me Ren." Nora retorted.

Pyrrha was giggling, with Jaune trying his best not to smile too much.

"So when I ask that you two cover for me when we go out for some fun during the week, I hope that you will agree." Nora concluded. Jaune looked over a Pyrrha, who was still very collected with her giggleing, he looked to Ren.

"Sorry Ren." He said, with Pyrrha laughing some more.

"Apology not accepted." Ren said, "For both of your reasons."

Pyrrha had controlled her laugh, now wiping away the water from her tear ducts where Jaune had a quizzical look on his face.

"On both counts? How long were you two out there?" Jaune asked.

"Oh long enough to hear you guys start getting-" Nora was cut off.

"Nora!" was said in sync from both Jaune and Pyrrha.

"So are we at the stage yet where we start moving beds yet you two?" Nora teased instead.

"No, there will be no moving of anything." Jaune ordered, "For all of our safety, sleep now."

Team JNPR sprang into action for their most important mission yet, resting.


	2. Grief

AUTHORS NOTES: Well, that took longer than I thought. Ah well, here's Something. Just before anyone starts reading this. THIS IS NOT A CONTINUATION ON THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER! These one shots are just in an certain order, and I'd rather put them all in the same story rather than separate them into many different stories to be lost in the abyss that is the internet. These stories are really helping me get over what happened at the end of Volume 3, and I'd like them to help others out there. That being said, I am going against my norms and almost making these as non-canonical as possible. The thing with the Pasta in the previous one shot was thing about only having noodles shown in the show so far, and with different cultures and climates, not every place in the world is going to have noodles, so in my own head, Pasta comes from Vaccuo, which is kinda cool to think about that. So with that in mind, thanks for reading and hope you aren't to depressed by this chapter, Grief.

" _Right now, we don't know how things are going to work out. So for now, don't even think about it. Just do what you can, what you want to do. That's not the same thing as 'running away'. So, what do you want to do?"_

Running through the wrecked streets of Vale, sweat and tears dropped from Jaune's face. He ran as fast as he could, past destroyed cars, ransacked shops, sparking robots and disintegrating Grimm, ignorant of the state the Kingdom was in. Street after street, he took the labyrinthine laneways to try to get as close to Beacon as possible.

He ran and ran, until he found himself at the centre of an intersection, out of breath, out of will and muttering incomprehensibly under his breath. A familiar growl resonated behind him, a lone Beowolf stalked behind him, softly snarling as it approached him. He turned his head and looked at the beast out of the corner of his eye, hand on the hilt of his sword. It stopped advancing as Jaune drew his sword, holding it with both hands as he walked towards the hungry Beowolf. He held Crocea Mors tightly as the Beowolf lunged at him, mouth open wide and claws high above its head.

Jaune yelled in exertion and held his sword high for counterattack, but just as the two connected, a bright white light from behind him stunned it for a brief moment, enough for Jaune to slice deep into the Beowolfs chest multiple times, yelling loudly. The monster fell to its side and began decaying slowly. Jaune looked behind him, the white light shining brightly from the remnants of Beacon Tower, he slowly jogged towards it, tired and gloomy.

As the light faded to nothingness, Jaune began to hear the faint chatter of people in the distance. Physically exhausted, he walked through a small checkpoint of Atlas military into what was a shelter. He looked at the civilians as he passed, the air of sadness and despair was suffocating, but he pressed forward through the crowd.

"Pyrrha?! Nora?! Ren?!" He called. Barely any head to Jaune as he searched around, with everybody lost in their own misery. He continued walking, looking to the sky he noticed many of the airships from the Colosseum still landing at a drop zone. He pushed his way through the crowd, closer to them.

"Pyrrha?! Ruby?! Neptune?! Anyone?!" He cried out to the crowd, still with no response, "Professor Goodwitch?! Nora?!"

He stopped in the middle of a sea of people and spun around, searching for Pyrrha, Ren or anyone who could help him.

"Jaune!" a voice shouted out, a young man's voice. He spun franticly to the voice, it was Sun, with his bright blonde hair poking through the crowd. Jaune pushed his way through the crowd towards him with morbidly curious eyes.

When he pushed through the last few people, he saw makeshift hospital. Ren and Nora were seated on small mats, with bandages around different parts of their bodies. Sun gestured his hand for him to go, but Jaune another voice. He rushed over to his two teammates.

"Nora! Ren!" He cried, "I am so sorry. I wish I didn't have to leave you two alone."

"It's fine," Ren said with pain.

"Where's Pyrrha? Wasn't she with you?" Nora distressingly asked.

"To keep it short," Jaune said quickly, "She shot me away after she…" He broke down into a few tears, wiping them away with his left hand, "She shot me to away with one of the Rocket Lockers. I landed somewhere in Vale and called Weiss and Ruby, they said they'd get her from the top of Beacon tower."

"Beacon Tower? What was she doing up there Jaune?" Nora pried.

"I don't know Nora," Jaune said, continuing to tear up, "I don't know why Nora, She-...She didn't exactly explain herself before sending me back to Vale."

"It's going to be fine Jaune." Ren said softly, "Pyrrha can take care of herself, and with Weiss and Ruby, there is nothing they couldn't handle."

Jaune clenched his fists in frustration, knowing that he couldn't tell them what he saw in the vault, or about that woman.

"Jaune!" a woman's voice this time called his name. He turned around quickly in hope, only to see Weiss running from the landing pad.

"Are you okay? What happened?" She asked.

"Weiss?" He choked up as he asked, "Is she here?"

"Jaune… it's okay." Weiss said softly.

"Weiss!" Jaune cried, his voice cracking behind the emotion. "Where is she?"

His forceful shout took her by surprise, looking at the desperate man standing before her.

"We couldn't think of a faster way to help her, than Ruby going alone up the tower." Weiss said confidently, "so just wait for her to return, okay Jaune?"

The feeling of worthlessness washed over him, he looked around the area. There were the teams he competed against and cheered for all tournament. Team SSSN, CFVY, even BRNZ and ABRN, all recovering from their injuries and exhaustion. Many of them lay on small mats, surrounded by their friends.

"What could possibly justify this?" Jaune muttered quietly, catching Nora's attention though she chose to say nothing. Wiping away the wetness on his face, he turned to his two teammates.

"Do you two need anything?" He said softly.

"Jaune… What happened back at Beacon?" Nora pondered.

"Nothing I can explain," He said sombrely, "Do you guys need some water at all?"

"Jaune, what has you so worried about Pyrrha. She is very capable fighter, and possibly would have won the festival tournament." Ren said, "And with Ruby, the two of them could do anything."

Jaune tried to smile at the two, though the sad eyes still seeped through the cracks of the forced smile.

"Oh god what happened," Weiss's worried yell seemed to screech in Jaune's ears, "Ruby!"

He slowly turned around, his heart skipped a beat before going haywire. A man with grey hairs and cape was carrying Ruby off one of the airships, Weiss ran towards him.

"Qrow!" she said, "What's going on? Is Ruby okay?"

"Qrow…" Jaune muttered before taking step by step towards him. Nora tried to reach out to Jaune, but her injuries stopped her

"She's fine princess," He said condescendingly, "She just needs some rest."

Weiss sighed in relief, "You little dolt."

Jaune approached the two, Qrow looked at the boy with indifference, waiting for his words.

"What happened to Pyrrha?" He said. That reasoning also dawned upon Weiss as well, and Qrow looked down into Ruby's hands, which was holding the crown.

"Sorry kid." Qrow said.

Jaune reached out and took it from her grasp. Ruby's body didn't resist, but it took Jaune a lot of effort to hold. Jaune stared at the crown, unable to completely comprehend it, he blankly looked over his shoulder, Nora was crying loudly and Ren closed his eyes, with a tears slowly rolling down his cheek.

Jaune heard nothing though, and his surroundings was a thick haze. The only things that were clear were his teammates and the thing he was holding. He went to join them, holding the crown in his lap, with Ren and Nora reaching out with one hand each, grasping it as well.

A dark, cluttered corridor with a brown wooden door at its end. Everything stood eerily still in the night from the varieties of shoes on the floor, coats on the wall and the portraits in their frames. With the silence broken suddenly by two loud knocks on the door. Nothing changed for a moment, with a light coming on behind the corridor, and a woman stepped over the clutter and answered the door. Opening the door, she found Jaune, Ren and Nora waiting at the front step.

"Jaune?" She asked gloomily.

"Hey Mom." He said depressingly back.

"Jaune!" She said, bringing him to an embrace, "What happened? Are you alright? Who are they?"

"They are my teammates, could we stay the night?" He said, just as gloomy as before.

"Teammates? Then where is your fourth?" She asked obliviously. Jaune's hand began shaking and held the crown stronger, and was unable to say a word.

"Now might not be the best time." said Nora, who was getting a little teary herself.

"Oh," understanding the context a little better, "Come in all of you."

She moved to the side, letting the three walk in. Jaune walked through first, seeming very apathetic, he walked straight through the familiar corridors. Nora and Ren stayed with his mother and saw Jaune disappear into the corridors.

"I think I remember you two. You were a part of Jaune's Team in the tournament, but I never knew your names." She said

"Nora." She said sombrely.

"I am Lie Ren, or just Ren if you want. Sorry if we are intruding at all, Jaune didn't say much more than that we could stay here for a while." Ren said.

"It's okay. You can stay for as long as you need. I am sure Jaune would like to have his friends around." She said, gesturing for them to be comfortable, "If you're getting tired, I could show you straight to your rooms. You will have to share if that's okay."

"It would be weird if we didn't." Nora said.

"Wait, are you two?" She asked.

"Well, we slept in a co-ed dorm with all of us, so we are used to it." Ren said.

"Right." Jaune's Mum confirmed, and thought for a moment, "So… never mind. Follow me, and don't worry about your weapons in this house. I trust that you'll be safe with them."

They walked carefully through the house, the cramped walls didn't seem like the best place to raise eight kids, yet the space felt lived in, there were scratches in the paint, picture frames all over the walls and the floor was a slightly lighter shade in the middle.

Jaune's Mother stopped in front of a closed door. Opening it and reaching the light switch revealed a room with two unmade beds on opposing walls.

"I know it might not be a lot, but it's something." She said, "I'll go get some sheets and pillows, you two make yourselves at home."

Nora and Ren awkwardly walked into the room, it was pretty empty, much like their room in Beacon. Two simple desks against the walls, drawers, and a bookshelf on the left side. Ren immediately put his weapons down carefully on the left desk removing his clips and disarming them, while Nora walked over to the right and did a turn.

Ren sighed as he completed his task, removing himself from the desk and walking around the room with his partner. The two stood there, side by side, enjoying each other's company, till Jaune's Mother appeared behind them again, with two sets of light blue sheets and white pillows.

"Here you are you two." She said, surprising the two, Ren bowed and took the sheets from her, placing them on each bed, "You both should probably get some rest. It's late and it will help you clear your minds."

The two smiled dimly, and she closed the door behind her as she left. The two made their beds slowly, only as they helped each other with the bedsheet, someone made a loud thud in the room next door. Jaune then reverberated the house with a mixture of crying and screaming, the terrible sound dissipated as he sobbed more and more. When Ren finished helping with Nora's bed, moving over to his own and sitting down. Both of them could still here him weeping from the other side of the wall, Nora looking past Ren at the dividing surface, with Ren taking a brief glance over his shoulder.

The sunrise over a devastated Vale, it was almost beautiful if not for the persisting columns of smoke hanging over the city. Jaune sat atop the slanted rooftop, alone, his eyes red from his tears and black from no sleep, a handkerchief in one hand and Pyrrha's crown in the other. He cried, but no more tears dropped from his eyes, yet his nose still dripped uncontrollably. Breathing deeply through his nose, he tried to calm himself down. He slid down a little and lay down on the roof, head to the sky. He heard one of the nearby doors open, yet it didn't faze him.

"Where could he have gone Ren?" asked Nora.

"Let's just keep looking. He shouldn't be too far." Replied Ren.

"I hope so." Nora said, Jaune took the effort then to lean up, and wave sluggishly to them, Ren noticed him up on the roof and waved slowly.

Nora turned around, seeing Jaune stuck on the rooftop, she looked relieved.

"Jaune?" She said, only just loud enough that he could hear her, "Do you mind if we join you?"

He smiled slightly, before nodding. He walked over to one a certain point on the wall, with brickwork that could be used as foot holds and grips. He held out his hand and helped his friends onto the roof. The three of them ended up sitting on the apex of the house, Jaune in the middle and Nora and Ren hugging him on either side.

"Jaune," Nora said, "We are here you too, if you need us."

"We won't be going anywhere. We will follow you wherever you will lead." Reassured Ren.

"Someone's got to look after you. For Pyrrha." Said Nora.

"For Pyrrha." Repeated Ren.

Jaune smiled at his friends support, and wiped his face with his forearm.

"For Pyrrha." His voice croaking from his state, he breathed deeply and exhaled strongly.

"What does everybody feel like for breakfast?" Jaune asked.

"Pancakes?" Ren asked.

"Pancakes!" Nora said.

Jaune chuckled a little, "Pancakes." He agreed.


End file.
